


5

by highboys (orphan_account)



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou
Genre: 5 Things, Alternate Reality, Kissing, M/M, Onsen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-20
Updated: 2011-11-20
Packaged: 2017-10-26 07:47:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/highboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some ways Natori and Natsume could have met.</p>
            </blockquote>





	5

**Author's Note:**

  * For [psychomachia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/psychomachia/gifts).



> I'm not too sure if this isn't going to get expanded in the future; I'd originally wanted 20 alternate realities instead of whittling it down to 5, but I hope I didn't maim their characters too much!

5.

  
"Dude," says Kitamoto, easily falling into step beside Natsume as they walk in the hallway, "don't look now, but Natori-sensei's ogling you again."

Natsume winces, before furtively looking around. "Really?"

"Ugh, he gives me the creeps," says Nishimura, visibly shivering. "I don't care if he used to be a child star or whatever, he could be a pop star and he'd _still_ be creepy."

"You only think that way because he doesn't have breasts," says Kitamoto.

"He's gone now," says Natsume, before Nishimura can whine some more.

"Thank god," says Nishimura. "Hey, why'd you think he's so interested in you? It couldn't be that he's... like that?"

"Or Sasada told him she thinks Natsume can see ghosts," says Kitamoto, mildly. He doesn't comment on how Natsume seems to freeze at that. "Which I think is just crazy, right, Natsume?"

"Right," says Natsume, laughter only a little strained. "Crazy."

  
4.

  
There are three unspoken rules in the industry that Natsume isn't supposed to break. First, that female actresses are always right and must be avoided like a plague if he wanted to keep his balls in tact. Second, that business shouldn't mix with pleasure, _so stop flirting with me, damn it, Sasada_! Third, that Natori Shuuichi is an incorrigible flirt and must be dealt with immediately, preferably without losing one's pants in the process.

Natsume's resigned himself early on that, as a low-ranking individual of the production staff, he doesn't normally socialize with actors and actresses unless he actively seeks them out, so he tries to keep his head down as much as possible. If that damn cat didn't poke around Natori's dessert in the second week, though, he could have lived stress-free and Natori-less. It used to be a peaceful life.

Now, though, Natori keeps making the most outlandish ways to show off and capitalize on his "attraction" to Natsume, especially within sight of his co-stars Matoba and Tanuma. (Sometimes Natsume wonders where the rest of his heterosexuality has gone, but if there's one thing Sasada's good for, it's the assurance that he's still relatively attractive to females. Or crazy, persistent people. _Ugh_.)

It still doesn't explain why he's in an onsen with Natori at the moment, straddling Natori's lap and making out with him like a teenager at the back of the gym. He mentally wails at the societal backlash and the age difference (oh god) and what this may or may not imply about himself, but Natori's mouth is warm and inviting and too talented to let Natsume's mind wander off too much.

Natori pulls away to take a breather and Natsume curses himself for the hushed whine that comes out of his throat. Natori raises an eyebrow at him, looking delighted at the sound, and Natsume blushes, passing a hand over his face in embarrassment.

"Must be the sake," says Natsume.

"Definitely," says Natori, and Natsume crushes their mouths together to stifle his laughter.

  
3.

  
Natori as an actor isn't much different from Natori in real life, which is why he oozes charisma even in the most boring situations such as at the back of a lecture room with a professor older than dirt. The kid beside him -- Natsume, was it? -- takes turns alternating between pleasantly flushed and brilliantly annoyed, but Natori takes the hot-cold reception with a grain of salt.

"I thought actors didn't need to go to class all the time," says Natsume, interrupting his latest spiel on how he'd like to strangle the director of the period drama he's in with a microphone wire or with the handy cord of his inaccurate hakama. "Isn't the latest scandal of your co-stars more interesting than sitting in a class that isn't even in your curriculum?"

"It has its benefits," says Natori, coyly, leaning close enough to see Natsume's cheeks dust with pink.

"Whatever you say," says Natsume, lowering his eyes and clamming up, and Natori thinks, helplessly, that it'll be a long year.

  
2.

  
The exorcism takes longer than what Hiiragi expects from a low-level spirit; it isn't so much as an angry demon hell-bent on terrorizing a semi-abandoned building that a realtor's interested in so much as an angry kid with trust issues and not a lot of good judgment calls.

Hiiragi doesn't really remember the kid too much -- he'd been transparent, in the way that even Natori's sight had passed over him. Like he'd faded into the background and willed it. Natori takes even longer trying to make him out than _talking_ to him (and that's another thing that's strange, but Hiiragi knows better than to ask). Hiiragi wonders if Natori even remembers the boy's name, if he'd been important enough to merit that.

"Poor kid," says Natori, later, not with much feeling. "He would have been more interesting if he were alive."

  
1.

  
"Dad," booms the voice of god on a bad day. "DAD."

Natori rolls over on his futon, batting at air without much success. The foreign invader whaps him with what appears to be the stray cat he picked up last week. "Whassit," mutters Natori.

"Nyanko-sensei needs kitty litter," says the Invader matter-of-factly. "And you have a shoot at 3 AM that you wanted me to wake you up for."

"I'm not awake enough for this," says Natori. "What time is it?"

"It's," the Invader pauses to check, "1:30. And I already made coffee for you."

"I love you," says Natori, with feeling.

Nyanko-sensei growls and swipes at his cheek. The _thing_ leans down to mutter death threats into his ear, but Natori solves the problem easily enough by smushing it against his chest.

"Takashi-chan," says Natori, "I hope you remember how hard I work to feed your lazy cat."

At another time, Takashi might have flinched and promptly detached himself from Natori's side in an attempt to make himself less conspicuous, but by now Takashi's used to his dramatics that it isn't much of an issue anymore. "It's not work if you just prance around half-naked in a studio," says Takashi, kindly. "Now get up or else I'll make your manager wake you."

"Ingrate," says Natori, and promptly falls back asleep.

  
0.

  
Invariably, they would have met either way.

The level of interest, on the other hand, would not have changed a bit.


End file.
